Simplify the following expression: $ p = \dfrac{-3}{4} + \dfrac{y + 9}{4} $
In order to add expressions, they must have a common denominator. Multiply the first expression by $\dfrac{4}{4}$ $ \dfrac{-3}{4} \times \dfrac{4}{4} = \dfrac{-12}{16} $ Multiply the second expression by $\dfrac{4}{4}$ $ \dfrac{y + 9}{4} \times \dfrac{4}{4} = \dfrac{4y + 36}{16} $ Therefore $ p = \dfrac{-12}{16} + \dfrac{4y + 36}{16} $ Now the expressions have the same denominator we can simply add the numerators: $p = \dfrac{-12 + 4y + 36}{16} $ $p = \dfrac{4y + 24}{16}$ Simplify the expression by dividing the numerator and denominator by 4: $p = \dfrac{y + 6}{4}$